Pottsville to begin development on towing rotation
Written By Caleb Brown (News Director)
After tabling the matter in September, on November 10, Pottsville City Council adopted a motion authorizing City Solicitor Edward Brennan to begin researching and preparing for a towing rotation ordinance.
The Debate
The motion would not be passed with a unanimous vote. Before even reaching the motion on the agenda, a debate would break out over towing rotation. Councilman Andy Wollyung was one of the vocal proponents of the rotation.
Addressing his fellow members of council, and the public Wollyung said that after hearing concerns from, city officials, and people involved in the towing process, it is, “Not that there is an issue with the company that has been producing it for a while now, I think it’s the point where we want to be able to allow anybody in city that is willing to execute work in a fair and equal manner…”
After this, Wollyung would say, “I’ve seen and heard issues where people, from police officers, have been said that certain towers had to be used and not. I’ve heard situations where people have had issues with companies, and I just want to see it to be fairer for everybody. This is not to cut someone out of anything. This is not to change anything or have a dig at any certain company…”
Councilman Dorothy Botto and Councilman Tom Wood would disagree. “Once we put a rotation in place,” She continued, “We put a rotation in place. First time we follow that rotation, we’re setting ourselves up for a lawsuit, which is going to cost the city.”
Botto would follow up with concerns about adding funds to the budget in order to oversee the towing rotation and disrespecting the police and fire chiefs.
She would then propose the idea that the motion should be tabled. She then brought up the incoming administration that would be taking office in nearly two months.
“There is no reason for us to rush this at all.” She would later affirm that their main concern should be the city’s budget.
Wood would chime in saying, “…I don’t think we’ve done our research on it…”
On the other end of the table, Councilwoman Catherine Mahon would side with the towing rotation, describing the idea of delaying as “lame.”
Elaborating, she said, “This has been an issue since I’ve been in middle school. I remembered being in middle school, hearing about the towing issue and the rotation issue.”
Ideas for the rotation
Mahon would speak with CC Broadcasting staff regarding the issue of towing in the city. “The City of Pottsville does not currently have a formal towing in place,” she claimed.
“In the modern era, there’s many different approaches to a towing policy,” Mahon said, before referencing Hazelton and Reading, which offer a bid process.
The motion is only to begin researching a towing rotation. Still, Mahon laid out her vision for what the towing rotation should look like, saying, “We’re small enough that a towing rotation will be simply alternate weekly on which towing company gets called, maybe be the best way forward.”
On the topic of overseeing the rotation, she stated, “That’s usually handled by a central dispatch.” Elaborating, she said, “In this scenario, it would no longer be upon the police officers to call the towing company. They simply call dispatch, and dispatch is the person who keeps track of whose turn it is on the towing rotation.”
But Mahon stated this would only be the case if council moved forward with the policy and if they choose the services of a central dispatcher.
The Vote
When it came time to vote, Wollyung and Mahon would vote in support of the motion. Botto and Wood would not. The final vote would come down to Mayor William Messaros, who voted yes. The final vote would stand at three to two.
Before moving on, Brennan would advise council that they meet with the new administration to get their input on the matter so as not to waste time drafting a policy that might not be adopted.